Saturn import shmups

[Iron Draggon]

I'd like to have a checklist of all of them, including as much information about them as possible, such as the format, number of players, and the developer. So I'm starting this list with all the ones that I know of. Please help me finish it by helping me to fill in all of the blanks. I've heard there's over 50 of them!

Saturn shmups!

3 Wonders (horizontal)
Assault Suit Leynos 2 (horizontal)
Batsugun (vertical)
Battle Garegga (vertical)
Blast Wind (vertical)
Bokan To Ippatsu Doronboo Kanpekiban (vertical)
Capcom Generation 1 (vertical)
Capcom Generation 3 (vertical)
Chaos Control (3D)
Choaniki (horizontal)
Cotton 2 (horizontal)
Cotton Boomerang (horizontal)
Darius 2 (horizontal)
Darius Gaiden (horizontal)
Dezaemon 2 (mixed)
Don Pachi (vertical)
Do Don Pachi (vertical)
Fantasy Zone (horizontal)
G-Vector (3D)
Game Tengoku (vertical)
Gekirindan (vertical)
Gradius Deluxe Pack (horizontal)
Guardian Force (mixed)
Gun Frontier (vertical)
Gunbird (vertical)
Hyper Duel (horizontal)
Image Fight & X-Multiply (mixed)
Jikkyo Oshaberi Parodius (horizontal)
Kaitei Daisensou (horizontal)
Keio Flying Squadron 2 (horizontal)
Kingdom Grand Prix (vertical)
Konami Antiques MSX Ultra Pack (mixed)
Kyukyoku Tiger 2 Plus (vertical)
Layer Section (vertical)
Layer Section 2 (vertical)
Macross SDF (horizontal)
Macross DYRL (horizontal)
Metal Black (horizontal)
Parodius Deluxe Pack (horizontal)
Planet Joker (3D)
Radiant Silvergun (vertical)
Salamander Deluxe Pack (horizontal)
Sengoku Blade (horizontal)
Sexy Parodius (horizontal)
Shienryu (vertical)
Skull Fang (vertical)
Sol Divide (horizontal)
Sonic Wings Special (vertical)
Soukyugurentai (vertical)
Steam Hearts (vertical)
Stellar Assault (3D)
Strikers 1945 (vertical)
Strikers 1945 2 (vertical)
Terra Cresta 3D (3D)
Thunderforce 5 (horizontal)
Thunderforce Gold Pack 1 (horizontal)
Thunderforce Gold Pack 2 (horizontal)
Twinbee Deluxe Pack (vertical)
Twinkle Star Sprites (vertical)
Wolf Fang (horizontal)

End of list!

OK, that has us at 60 now!

[evilmess]

Game Tengoku (vertical)
Wolf Fang maybe?
Is your Macross SDF (horizontal) entry Macross D.Y.R.L. ?

If you're going to have 3D shooters like Steller Assualt then you should include PD, PDZ, Wing Arms and Soviet Strike to name a few.

I'd omit the 3D stuff and keep this list 2D only. I think the list is 54 or 55 total if you only include the 2D shmups.

[Iron Draggon]

Thanks. I meant to include Wolf Fang, but I must've missed it somehow. I'm unclear on the Macross games. Is the Do You Remember Love and the Super Dimension Fortress the same game, or two different games? Some sites say yes, some sites say no, so which is it? I don't mind having 3D shooters in the list, but maybe they should be in a seperate list, if there's that many of them.

Holding the list at 60 now. It may be slightly less than that, if 3D shmups like Stellar Assault don't count. There must be only really obscure shmups left. Half of these I could care less about, so I don't think I'd bother trying to collect all of them, but I still would like to know as much as possible about them. Some seem to go by more than one name in English, thus adding to the confusion, so I think alternate names should be listed too. I need help with that also. And then there's all the borderline titles as well. What to do about those? For example, should a game like Assault Suit Leynos 2 count as a 2D shmup, or is it more of an action game? It seems very shmuppy to me, especially if a game like Wolf Fang counts. They both have the same theme.

[evilmess]

http://www.shmups.com/xenocidefiles/saturn.html

Looks like Macross: Do You Remember Love? is the only Macross Title
You'll find a few others in there to add to the list too.

[Iron Draggon]

OK, thanks. I went ahead and added Assault Suit Leynos 2, because as far as I'm concerned, it's a shmup too, but I don't think that Space Invaders and Tempest 2000 really qualify as shmups in the modern sense. They're more like arcade shooting games to me, because they don't even scroll. I know that Assault Suit Leynos 2 is kinda stretching it a little, since it only scrolls as you move your mech, but it's still a shitload of hyper shooting action, so it seems alot more like a shmup than anything else to me. And like I said, if Wolf Fang qualifies, then it should qualify too. It's basically the same thing.

[Dire 51]

ASL2 isn't a shmup. At the closest, it's a borderliner like Contra and Metal Slug.

[Iron Draggon]

Well it sure seems alot more like a shmup than any of those games to me, and it's way more difficult than the hardest true shump that I've ever played before too. I still can't even get past the first boss! I always run out of all my ammo before I kill it, if it doesn't kill me before then, and there doesn't seem to be any way to replenish any of my ammo when all my weapons run out either. All I can do is jump around and wait to die. Even my shield won't hold off all it's firepower indefinitely, so once I lose that too, then I'm really a big sitting duck for it. When they said it really was hard, they weren't kidding!

[Dire 51]

That should be a clue that it's no shmup - who ever heard of running out of ammo in a shmup?

Hell yes it's hard. I never made it past the second boss. Half the time I could barely make it TO the second boss.

[Iron Draggon]

Well, insane difficulty aside, that's what I like about it, you CAN run out of ammo. That's alot more realistic than an infinite stream of projectiles spewing forth from your ship, like some kind of chronic orgasm or something. I'll learn how to work my way through it eventually. I've already learned a few tricks for maximizing the effectiveness of my weapons while minimizing the amount of damage that I take, but that damn boss is one mean SOB! I keep getting hit by surprise rays of death from out of nowhere when I do well against it. I think it has that evil AI where it gets alot more mean when you do real well.

But once you kill it, all your ammo gets replenished for all your weapons for the next level, right? So I just have to learn the most effective way to get to it, and the most effective way to kill it once I get there. That's pretty hard too, alot of times I wasn't even making it all the way to it, until I found out that I can get right on top of the enemies without taking any damage. So the big secret seems to be how to conserve all my firepower as much as possible, so I have plenty of ammo for the boss. That's really cool too, I like how strategic the whole thing is, I just wish that it was a little bit easier.

I hate games where you can't even get past the first boss like that, but it's just so addictive I can't stop playing no matter how many times I die. But I do get really tired of having to cycle through all the dialogue that I can't even read all the time. I'm sure that it must hold some clues to defeating the boss, or at least some helpful advice for the mission. That's the way that Target Earth was, but I never did very well with it either, and I could actually read all the text! I must say the challenge alone makes ASL2 well worth the $40 I had to pay to get it shipped here from Japan, but if I don't learn how to kill that first boss pretty soon I may have to start looking for some Game Shark codes to help me out a little! I hate to cheat, but I would like to see the rest of what I paid for at least once, so I know what's in store for me.

But I'm not resorting to that just yet. I'd much rather be surprised by it all and have a real adventure with it, and boy is it ever an adventure! I never saw such an intense run & gun or whatever you wanna call it. Definitely what I would call required playing if you're gonna import for the Saturn, which is the main reason why I put it on my shmup list. I can't believe that such an awesome game didn't get released here, but then SOA screwed us left and right during the Saturn's last days over here. That's why my first Saturn import was Thunderforce V! As soon as I heard that it wasn't gonna make it over here, I was like no way, that is it! I ordered that one and Blast Wind, because it was dirt cheap back then and I figured that anything from Technosoft had to be awesome. Plus I wanted to see how they would do a vertical shmup, and I wasn't disappointed with it in the least. I think it's a great shmup, but I still wish that I had been able to get Hyper Duel as well. That's the only Technosoft shmup that I don't have besides Thunder Spirits on the SNES, and it still bugs me that I'll probably never get to own a copy.

[Dire 51]

SOA screwed the Saturn over in more ways than one... x_x

Whichever way you slice it, ASL2 is quite a good game. It's not a shmup, but it's definitely worth importing.

"But once you kill it, all your ammo gets replenished for all your weapons for the next level, right?"

Yes.

[Iron Draggon]

OK, cool. I'll finally beat that sucker and be on to the next one of these days! Definitely a must have/must play game, even if it is hard as holy hell.

And let's try not to get each other started on the SOB's at SOA. We both know the pain all too well. Grandia, Dragon Force 2, Thunderforce V, ASL 2, etc. And that's not even getting into their Genesis blunders, like Alien Soldier!

For the longest time, it seemed to me as though they were trying to piss people off on purpose. What? A new Treasure game? No thanks, that would never sell here in the states where the most rabid Treasure fans are. IDIOTS!

[Dire 51]

And let's try not to get each other started on the SOB's at SOA. We both know the pain all too well. Grandia, Dragon Force 2, Thunderforce V, ASL 2, etc. And that's not even getting into their Genesis blunders, like Alien Soldier!

For the longest time, it seemed to me as though they were trying to piss people off on purpose. What? A new Treasure game? No thanks, that would never sell here in the states where the most rabid Treasure fans are. IDIOTS!

You're not kidding.

[fishsandwich]

I compiled this list awhile back... it's a bit confusing since I listed the shooters found in compilation packs as separate shooters... I need to go back and do a separate list with sub-lists for the games on each disk.

There's some other stuff at the end of the list.

Note that the three shooters on Dezaemon 2 have been listed identified (Daioh P! is the name of the 3rd shooter) and that Lightning Gunner (from Game Basic) has now been included.


TRADITIONAL SHOOTERS

1943 (Capcom Generations 1)
1943+ (Capcom Generations 1)
Batsugun
Battle Garegga
Bio Metal Gust (Dezaemon 2)
Blast Wind
Bokan To Ippatsu Doronboo Kanpekiban (aka Time Bokan)
Chariot (Arcade Gears: Wonder 3)
Choaniki (aka Super Big Brother)
Cotton 2
Cotton Boomerang
Darius 2
Darius Gaiden
Defender (Arcades Greatest Hits: Williams)
Defender II (Arcades Greatest Hits: Williams)
Detana Twinbee Yahho! Deluxe Pack
Daioh P! (Dezaemon 2)
DoDonPachi
DonPachi
Fantasy Zone
Galactic Attack (aka Layer Section)
Game Tengoku (aka The Game Paradise)
Gradius (Gardius Deluxe Pack)
Gradius 2 (Gardius Deluxe Pack)
Gekirindan
Guardian Force
Gun Frontier (Arcade Gears)
Gunbird
Hyper Duel
Image Fight (Image Fight & X-Multiply dual pack)
In The Hunt
Jikkyou Osyaberi Parodius (aka Parodius: Forever With Me)
Keio Yugekitai (aka Keio Flying Squadron 2 in UK, some platform elements)
Kingdom Grand Prix
Konami Antiques MSX Collection***
Kyukyoku Tiger 2 Plus
Layer Section 2
Life Force (Salamander Deluxe Pack)
Lightning Gunner (Game Basic For Sega Saturn)
Metal Black
Mobile Suit Gundam
Mobile Suit Z Gundam
Parodius (aka Parodius Da!) (Gokujyo Parodius-Da! Deluxe Pack)
Parodius 2 (aka Gokujko Parodius) (Gokujyo Parodius-Da! Deluxe Pack)
Planet Joker
Radiant Silvergun
Ramsie (Dezaemon 2)
Salamander (Salamander Deluxe Pack)
Salamander 2 (Salamander Deluxe Pack)
Sengoku Blaede
Sexy Parodius
Shienryu
Sinistar (Arcades Greatest Hits: Williams)
Skull Fang
Sol Divide
Sonic Wings Special (remixed and merged versions of Sonic Wings 1,2, and 3)
Soukyugurentai
Star Jacker (Sega Ages Memorial 2)
Steam Hearts
Strikers 1945
Strikers 1945 II
Super Dimensional Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love?
Terra Cresta 3-D
Thunderforce 1 (Thunderforce Gold Pack 1)
Thunderforce 2 (Thunderforce Gold Pack 1)
Thunderforce 3 (Thunderforce Gold Pack 1)
Thunderforce 4 (Thunderforce Gold Pack 2)
Thunderforce Arcade (remixed Thunderforce 3) (Thunderforce Gold Pack 2)
Thunderforce V
Tukai Slot Shooting (***I need to check this; it may not belong here)
Vulgas (Capcom Generations 3)
X-Multiply (Image Fight & X-Multiply dual pack)


*** Konami Antiques MSX Collection contains PORTS of classic shooters for the old Japanese MSX computer (which seems to be close to the Colecovision in terms of graphics and sound.) They are essentially Saturn ports of MSX ports of arcade games. Gradius, Gradius 2, Salamander, and Parodius 1 appear in arcade-perfect form on other Saturn compilations.

Gofers Ambition
Gradius
Gradius 2
Salamander
Parodius
Time Pilot
Sky Jaguar
Super Cobra




QUASI-3-D SHOOTERS (with limited movement)

Afterburner II (on US Sega Ages CD or Japanese stand-alone disk)
G-Vector
Galaxy Force II
Night Striker S
Sky Target
Solar Eclipse
Space Harrier (on US Sega Ages CD or Japanese stand-alone disk)




FULL 3-D SHOOTERS

Black Dawn
Black Fire
Independence Day
Shockwave Assault
Star Fighter
Stellar Assault SS
Thunderstrike 2
Wing Arms




MECH 3-D SHOOTERS

A.M.O.K.
Bulk Slash
Ghen War
Gun Griffon
Gun Griffon 2
Krazy Ivan
Mechwarrior 2
Mobile Suit Gundam Gaiden #1
Mobile Suit Gundam Gaiden #2
Mobile Suit Gundam Gaiden #3
Robotica
Tunnel B1
Virtua On: Cyber Troopers (quasi shooter/fighter)
Virtua On: Cyber Troopers Netlink Edition (quasi shooter/fighter)




FIRST-PERSON SHOOTERS (Generally Ground Based)

Alien Trilogy
Battlezone (Arcades Greatest Hits: Atari)
Battlesport
Congo The Movie: The Lost City Of Zinj
Doom
Duke Nukem 3D
Enemy Zero (graphic adventure with FPS segments)
Hexen
Machine Head
Magic Carpet
Powerslave (aka Exhumed in the UK)
Quake
Shellshock
Space Hulk: Vengence Of The Blood Angels




CLASSIC SHOOTERS (generally one screen, no scrolling)

Asteroids (Arcades Greatest Hits: Atari)
Centipede (Arcades Greatest Hits: Atari)
Missile Command (Arcades Greatest Hits: Atari)
Robotron (Arcades Greatest Hits: Midway)
Space Invaders
Tempest (Arcades Greatest Hits: Atari)
Tempest 2000




QUASI-SHOOTERS (many can be viewed as platform, action, or combat/racing games, but they are more firepower-intensive than most. The inclusion of some of these games may be questionable.)

Assault Suit Leynos 2
Burning Rangers
Chaos Control Remix
Commando (Capcom Generations 4)
Contra: Legacy of War
Crime Wave
Crusader: No Remorse
Gunsmoke (Capcom Generations 4)
Loaded
Mass Destruction
Mercs (Capcom Generations 4)
Metal Slug
Panzer Dragoon
Panzer Dragoon Zwei
Prikura Daisakusen
Soviet Strike
Steamgear Mash
Vatlva
Wolf Fang SS



Cheers

[fishsandwich]

Oh yeah... forgot to add few corrections and clarifications...

3 Wonders is actually Arcade Gears: Wonder 3

Kaitei Daisensou is called In The Hunt in the States

Sengoku Blade is spelled Sengoku Blaede (who knows why)

Soukyugurentai is also known as Terra Driver (domestic arcade game- no home release)

[Dire 51]

Impressive. I'd dump the FPS, Mech 3D and 3D shooters myself (and even the Quasi-Shooters) if we were confining this to straight shmup talk, but since this list seems to represent every game on the Saturn that has a character firing a bullet at something, it's very cool.

[fishsandwich]

Impressive. I'd dump the FPS, Mech 3D and 3D shooters myself (and even the Quasi-Shooters) if we were confining this to straight shmup talk, but since this list seems to represent every game on the Saturn that has a character firing a bullet at something, it's very cool.

I'd agree as well... I got a bit carried away. What do you think of quasi 3-d shooters? I think they are very similar to traditional 2-D shooters in that there's a lot of dodging/twitching, constant firing of an inexhaustable basic weapon, forced scrolling in one direction, and limited freedom of movement... it's just a differance in graphical presentation and some basic controls. But I'm partial to the genre, and they really aren't shooters in the most traditional Vanguard/Xevious sense, so who knows?

Cheers

[Iron Draggon]

Awesome list! Now this is the kind of stuff that I wanted to know. I enjoy all types of shooters, except I'm not real big on FPS, but beyond that, any of the mech sims, tank sims, flight sims, etc, are still shooters in my book. Of course I prefer the classic 2D shmups too, but since your character is usually some kind of mech, tank, plane, etc, it doesn't seem right to not include them to me. They probably should be categorized like this, but since I enjoy run & guns as much as I enjoy standard shmups, it's nice to see them all.

For example, Assault Suit Leynos 2 really seems alot more like a shmup than anything else to me now that I've completed the first 7 missions, even more so than it did before. Some of the levels are almost standard side scrollers, the boss fights are the exact same kinda battles found in standard shmups, and the weapons system is like the most awesome weapons system ever found in any shump that I've ever played before. If I could equip my ship like that in a new Thunderforce game, I'd think I died and went to heaven!

It's just so awesome to have so many different ways to customize your mech for the missions, and to see so much of a difference in your chances of survival depending on which weapons you choose and what other options you select. And the fact that you have to balance all that within weight limitations is really cool too. There were several times that I had to drop some extra weapons or reconfigure my choices because my mech was too heavy and it wouldn't let me start the mission. It was just so immersive!

I'd like to see something like that in a more classic style shmup, even the part about running out of ammo for some of my weapons, it would be so much more realistic if standard shmups limited your firepower the same way they limit your bombs. I know it would make them alot harder to play, but maybe something like limiting your upgraded weapons to only have a limited amount of use before they revert to your basic weapons. I know that most shmups do that in a way when you die and lose all your upgrades or go down a level, but I think it would be cool to see them run out and go down on you without dying too. I've really become affected by ASL 2 now. HEHE

[Dire 51]

I'd agree as well... I got a bit carried away. What do you think of quasi 3-d shooters? I think they are very similar to traditional 2-D shooters in that there's a lot of dodging/twitching, constant firing of an inexhaustable basic weapon, forced scrolling in one direction, and limited freedom of movement... it's just a differance in graphical presentation and some basic controls. But I'm partial to the genre, and they really aren't shooters in the most traditional Vanguard/Xevious sense, so who knows?

Cheers

I do love some good quasi-shmups. Some of the ones you listed are VERY high on my personal favorites list (namely Commando, MERCS, Gun.Smoke and Metal Slug). Malc from shmups.com once termed games like Metal Slug and Contra "borderliners", which is a pretty good definition of them.

[Iron Draggon]

I still prefer the term "run & gun" for those types of games, very appropriate.

[Dire 51]

Run-n-guns definitely fit games like Contra and Metal Slug. Games like Commando and MERCS, on the other hand, I've dubbed "South American Commando Slaughter" games.